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rice cereal for 4 month old baby

Hi all,
I'm thinking of introducing rice cereal for 4 month old baby.The reason for introducing this so early is she has reflux and I want to her to get something so she can sleep and then i can BF her.Is this good way to do ?

I know its kind of early but she is having very difficlut time drinking milk.
I gave zantac and it did'nt help much...
I'm going to buy super baby food book today and get some input from there.
What else can I introduce at 4 months ?
TIA
Mangai

Re: rice cereal for 4 month old baby

I'm thinking of introducing rice cereal for 4 month old baby.The reason for introducing this so early is she has reflux and I want to her to get something so she can sleep and then i can BF her.Is this good way to do ?

I would say no. I posted this above but here are a few links on why to delay solids until 6 mos.

Esp. if you have a hx of allergies I would wait. My DD had reflux as well (it is much better now that she is a bit older, sitting up etc..) and dr said we could do rice cereal in bottle when she was 4 mos but we didn't b/c of research I did indicating its better to wait & cereal in bottle can be choking hazard. Plus my DH has allergies so the last thing I wanted was to risk DD having them. Also, its a myth that giving her solids will help her sleep through the night. I give her solids now & that doesn't happen (LOL!).

We had DD on zantac & it didn't help in the beginning until we started giving it to her consistently - then it helped ALOT! She'll get used to the taste too - DD hated it at first but then started to grab the syringe. What I ended up doing b/c I had a very fast letdown and DD seemed to really struggle when I nursed was I pumped & bottle fed for a time & nursed at night & early am. She definitely nursed better then b/c she was more relaxed & I tried to make sure I wasn't too full (mainly nursed on one side). Over time, she handled the let down better, the let down slowed down & now she nurses fine. I still bottle feed when I'm at work. Also, now that she can sit up & is older, she is doing much better. It had nothing to do with us intro'ing solids either.

Do you have a fast letdown? If so, there are things you can do, like block feed on one side to get it to slow down. Then your DD may be able to handle the milk better. I would say to keep her on the zantac and give it some time. It takes awhile to work & you have to make sure that if she gains weight you have the dosage readjusted.

Anyway, hope some of this helps but can't stress enough not to do solids at this point. Its too much of a risk.

Re: rice cereal for 4 month old baby

Thanks for the reply.I'm exactly undergoing what u described in u'r post.
She ends up choking most of time while feeding and i'm block feeding her.

I have a quick question about zantac.Did u'r DD was very gassy when u gave zantac ?
How long it took for u'r little one to get used to zantac ?
How much did u give him ?
Sorry for asking so many questions.I'm literally looking for some help in this
area.I know it varies from kid to kid just wondering whether i'm doing right thing.I'm going to meet GI again this week.

Re: rice cereal for 4 month old baby

My dd (3mo) has severe reflux, is very gassy and is also on zantac. I also have a fast letdown on one side and she seems to be rejecting that side now. After reading your post I wonder if the zantac is contributing to her gassiness or if it's just the fast let down. I have tried block nursing and am considering letting her feed from one side while pumping the other. I probably need to do that (pump one side) but it seems like a lot of work. Overall, I'm very discouraged and just don't know what to do anymore. I tried to give her formula and she refused. She has also started to make taking breastmilk in a bottle difficult. We only give bottles occasionally - babysitter, church - but I really need a break sometimes and am overwhelmed with ALL of the issues we are facing.

It makes me feel a little better to see that I'm not alone, but I don't know what to do and my emotional state is fragile.

Re: rice cereal for 4 month old baby

I can't remember if DD was more gassy with zantac or not. I think she was a combo of gassy & gerd so we tried alot of baby massage, bicycling her legs, good burping, etc... We gave mylicon but then our ped said that doesn't work very well so stick with zantac. I would say that it took a good two weeks for her to stop struggling (coughing, grunting, wheezing, spitting up) when she ate (that is the best way I could describe her eating). I "think" we started on .7ml twice a day, then .9 3X; then I started weaning her back & now I only give a bit when she seems to have a tough time. We only have a small amount left anyway. One reason why I didn't give the meds all the time in the beg was b/c I said, she didn't look like she needed it all the time & the ped told me was reflux just doesn't go away and since we feel what she is feeling, keep her on the meds.

Anyway, hope that helps.. Try this sites for more info...www.reflux.org